Focus On Reading 2.0 - week 2 - Fiction/Non-Fiction in Magazines

[Theresa]

Have you ever, do you still, read fiction or non-fiction in magazines - short stories or serialized or even abridged books? If so what magazines? Any particularly memorable ones?

[Theresa]

I grew up with Good Housekeeping as it was one of my mother's favorite magazines, also Redbook, both published fiction in addition to advice and recipes. It introduced me to writers I still admire and read like Mary Stewart - Touch Not the Cat specifically. There was a short story in it in the mid-70s entitled The Toyer that scared the pants off me. No idea who wrote it but might just see if I can google and find it.

Good Housekeeping has always promoted women writers and women reading.

But there are many other magazines that publish stories and books from The New Yorker to genre centered monthlies.

[Theresa]

Oh, I just remembered! Mary Stewart's Arthurian series debuted in Good Housekeeping! It was a total departure from her previous fiction. Now I wonder if that was a deliberate publishing ploy to acclimate her fans.

Back in the day many classics were first published as serials in newspapers and journals - Dickens, Trollope - and only later as a single book.

[Robin P]

I'm not a fan of short stories in general and feel like so many "literary" ones are depressing or just static. But I don't read many so I may be misjudging them. Serialized books would be fun. A few authors have done that online but it usually involves paying for each installment which ends up being more than most books.

[Joanne]

When i was a pre-teen/teen, I always read the Reader's Digest magazine. As a young woman I subscribed to Vanity Fair and loved it. When marriage and child entered my life, no more magazines. Cannot remember the last time I picked one up

[Booknblues]

I used to have subscriptions to McCall's, Redbook and Good Housekeeping and pretty much read them from cover to cover. I always appreciated Redbook's fiction, however none of these have stayed with me.

In a past life, I was a read anything I could get my hands on. I'm a little more discriminating now and have a full library of tbr's.

[Booknblues]

Talking about those magazines makes me want to go an buy the latest copy.

[Theresa]

Booknblues wrote: "Talking about those magazines makes me want to go an buy the latest copy."

A friend and I do that once in a while at Christmas or birthday (they are close). It is fun!

[Joy D]

I read compilations that have previously been published in magazines (e.g., Charles Dickens) but I do not read magazines anymore.

[Charlie]

I think the only thing I ever read that was serialized (in a book not a magazine) was The Green Mile. It was a fun experience.

[Book Concierge]

I also used to have subscriptions to Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping and Ladies Home Journal (along with People, Time, and Reader's Digest) but I gave them up when I realized I wasn't really reading them any longer. At the beginning of the pandemic I accepted an offer for a great deal on The New Yorker, but once the year was up I didn't renew ... again, mostly because I found I wasn't reading it cover to cover.